EU review threatens pesticide use

22 February 2007,

Number of pesticides may drop if EU laws imposed.

Fears have been voiced that the EU pesticide review could have a disastrous effect on crop protection options for fruit and vegetable growers.
HDC technical manager Vivian Powell said that at the current trend, specialist crop growers could be left with less than 100 actives as many products are not supported through the re-registration process. And restrictions imposed in the registration process are limiting growers’ options further still.
Powell said: “We have seen the number of applications on some products reduced to just four applications, which could make carrot fly control extremely difficult.”
She added that changes in maximum residue level (MRL) legislation had seen further losses, such as that of Aldicarb, which can no longer be used on potatoes, carrots or parsnips. “Retailer protocols also have an effect on growers’ crop protection options, so we need to ensure that they have a range of product availability to meet growers’ contract needs, including a workable resistance manage-ment strategy.”
Powell also told growers at the ADAS/Syngenta UK Vegetable Industry Conference that the specific off-label approval (SOLA) route could provide the answer to UK speciality crop growers. Extensive work by the HDC had already secured around 1,700 SOLAs across the speciality crops.

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